Everything You Need to Know About WordPress Widgets

No matter if you are beginner or developer, WordPress widgets are immensely helpful for everyone creating a website in WordPress. They come in the form of handy tools that make it easy to customize a WP based website. Unquestionably, WordPress widgets are one of the best features of WordPress.

In general terms, a widget is a small application with limited functionality that can be installed and executed within a web page by a user. Similarly, a WordPress widget is a small standalone piece of code that adds some specific type of content or functionality to your website.

To make it clearer, here is a definition:

WordPress widgets are independent blocks of content which can be added in the widget areas provided by the theme. They add some specific functionality or feature to a WordPress website.

For example, Archives, Categories, Search, Tag Cloud, etc. are some of the WordPress widgets that are available in every WordPress installation by default.

There are specific locations designed in the themes where widgets can be placed. Such areas are called widget areas. Sidebars are the most common widget areas as provided by default WordPress themes. However, they are not limited to the sidebars anymore. The widget areas may occur in the footer, headeror anywhere on the website.

WordPress Sidebar Widgets

Most common location for WordPress widgets are sidebars which is why they are often called ‘WordPress Sidebar Widgets’ synonymously. Almost all the WordPress themes allow using widgets in the sidebars where you can use default WordPress widgets or custom made theme or plugin widgets.

The widget areas may vary depending on the theme you are using. Most of the themes these days are widget ready. Several in-built widgets are provided along with many widget areas in such themes. Besides, widgets also come with WordPress plugins.

Nowadays, there are many themes which are fully widgetized allowing users to add widgets in most parts of the theme. Such themes are created with support to page builder plugins. Most of the page builder plugins come with a bundle of widgets, also called modules/ content modules. Page builders let you add the available widgets in the pages or posts and create completely new design/ structure of a website.

For example, you can take a look at our Flash theme which is completely widget-based theme. The theme is built in with SiteOrigin’s page builder plugin and a companion plugin called Flash Toolkit which is a bundle of some awesome widgets.

How to add Widgets to WordPress?

WordPress widgets are not the separate components but the parts of a theme or plugins. Therefore, installing a theme and plugins are complete enough to install widgets. There is no other procedure required to install widgets. Working with widgets is really easy.

To see the available widgets, you should go to the WordPress dashboard and in the Appearance menu, there is ‘Widgets‘. You must drag and drop the widgets to the available widget areas. Therefore the widgets are also called drag and drop widgets. It is the conventional way of adding widgets.

As shown in the image above, Widgets can be found inside ‘Customize‘ in latest Customizer-based WordPress themes. You can easily add, reorder the widgets with live previews from the Customizer.

Best WordPress Widgets worth Checking Out in 2017

As I stated earlier, WordPress widgets come along with WordPress themes or WordPress plugins. They are created with specific functionality, feature or content in mind. Most of the widgets are specifically developed in feature specific plugins; for example, social icon widget and social sharing widget may be available in a Social media plugin.

Besides, there are some widget bundle plugins targeted to empower a specific theme, a specific type of website, or a page builder plugin. For example:

1) Flash Toolkit Plugin

A WordPress plugin which contains 12 custom widgets to empower Flash Theme. The widgets can be used to build multipurpose websites including business website, one-page website, construction, food and restaurant website etc.

Some of the widgets available in Flash Toolkit are:

FT: About – About Us Section

FT: Service Widget

FT: Testimonial Widget

FT: Team Widget

FT: Slider

FT: Animated Number Counter etc.

Note: You must use Flash Theme for using Flash Toolkit plugin. The free version of theme offers Toolkit plugin with 12 custom widgets while the premium theme ‘Flash Pro’ comes with additional 8 custom widgets.

Similarly, there are several amazing WordPress widgets available on the web which are incredibly useful. I will mention some of the most popular types of WordPress widgets and the best ones in this post here.

WordPress calendar widgets

1. Simple Calendar – Google Calendar Plugin

Install the plugin and add Google calendar events to your WordPress site. As you install the plugin, a widget ‘Simple Calendar’ will be added to your Available widgets section. You can now drag and drop the calendar in the sidebars or other available widgets areas.

2. All-in-One Event Calendar

All-in-One Event Calendar is one of the popular WordPress calendar plugins with over 100,000 active installs. It provides you a beautiful way to list your events in a WordPress website. It comes with a widget ‘Upcoming Events’ which can be added in all the available widget areas of your WordPress theme.

WordPress social media widgets

1. Social Icons

Social Icons is a simple yet powerful social media plugin for WordPress. It is a free plugin that supports more than 100 social icons. As you install the plugin, you’ll get a widget ‘Social Icons’. The widget can be placed anywhere in the available widget areas provided by your theme.

WordPress Facebook widgets

1. Facebook Widget

Facebook Widget is a free WordPress plugin that can be downloaded from official WordPress plugin repository. This lets you add a simple Facebook page like widget into WordPress website sidebar or the footer area.

The widget shows a Facebook Like button along with the number of Facebook users who have already liked your page.

More WordPress Widgets Worth Having

1. YouTube Widget WordPress – YouTube Channel Gallery

YouTube Channel Gallery plugin lets you display a YouTube video and a gallery of video thumbnails for a YouTube Channel in a beautiful grid layout. You can use this plugin as a widget or as a shortcode. You can place the widget anywhere in the available widget areas.

Moreover, the plugin is a simple way for beginners to embed a YouTube channel in WordPress website.

2. Text Widget WordPress – Enhanced Text widget

There is a default Text widget available in WordPress for adding simple text in widget areas but you need a custom widget like Enhanced Text Widget for better design and more features. Enhanced Text Widget supports text, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP with a linkable widget.

In the nutshell, this plugin is an advanced plugin for the text widget. You can display text, any additional message in a beautiful design with this widget.

3. WordPress Testimonial Widget – Testimonials Widget

Testimonials Widget is a free WordPress plugin which lets you add customer testimonials easily on your WordPress website. You can display a list of reviews or slide reviews via widgets. Besides, you can add testimonials via functions and shortcodes.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, WordPress widgets are the game changers making WordPress even easier. As stated in WordPress Codex, Widgets require no code experience or expertise. They can be added, removed and rearranged on the Theme Customizer or Widgets option in Appearance menu. They provide a simple and beautiful way to customizing the website, pages, and posts.

Sunita Rai

Sunita is a WordPress lover, digital marketing, SEO, and blogging enthusiast. She has appeared on ThemeGrill blog, WPAll, and multiple websites. She loves doing research, writing, travel, music and exploring life. She is a passionate learner and dreamer. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.

Hi Ramana, Thanks for your complement. The sole purpose of our blog is to help the WordPress users, be it beginners or experts. We are grateful to help you. And, it will be a privilege for me to put comments on your blog. I will surely do. 🙂 Thanks!

Hi Albert, Thanks for your comment. Custom Sidebars plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-sidebars/) may be helpful to you. The plugin is basically a widget area manager which allows you to display custom widget configurations on any page, post, category or archive page. Please try this plugin. And don not forget to share your experience with us. 🙂 Thanks!